Category Archives: MS Treatment

Oct. 27, 2013, 3 a.m. Jason McIntyre's autoimmune system is dead. The rest of him isn't feeling much better. Eleven days ago he underwent an aggressive chemotherapy, not for the sake of killing cancer - but to knock out every skerrick of protection his body has against infection. Sitting in a freezer were 35 million stem cells that were shaken from Mr McIntyre's bone marrow by a combination of drugs. These were filtered from his blood about three weeks ago. That process, he says, left him with aching bones. It was his birthday. If he survives long enough - that is, if a piece of dust doesn't get in his eye and spark a fatal infection - the stem cells will this week be returned to his body, as building blocks for a brand new autoimmune system. Mr McIntyre, 37, is only the sixth patient with multiple sclerosis to undergo this experimental therapy - known as an autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant - in a small trial being conducted by St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney. Thousands of stem cell transplants are performed worldwide to treat certain blood cancers in patients who have become resistant to regular therapies - but the … Continue reading →

BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER) --- It's estimated that hundreds of thousands of Americans go through the daily struggle of living with multiple sclerosis. MS, which attacks the central nervous system, can cause ailments that include paralysis and loss of vision. Now staff at Eastern Maine Medical Center are looking to provide better treatment to many Mainers fighting the disease. EMMC launched its MS Care treatment program over the summer. That was in response to requests and fundraising efforts by MS patients and their families. The center is located at the EMMC Healthcare Mall on Union Street. It offers many services for MS patients, including prescription treatments as well as physical and speech therapy. Doctors say in the past patients have had to go to several locations to get those same services. Directors say so far about 60 people are seeking services at MS Care. Its supporters say they're still looking for about $1.6 milliondonations to keep the program going into the future. NEWS CENTER Read more: EMMC now offering new program for MS care … Continue reading →

The supervision, treatment and care of a severely depressed Perth woman before she flew to Mexico and committed suicide was not optimal, but was not below accepted practice at the time, a WA Coroner has found. The 39-year-old woman, known as Ms D, travelled to Mexico in April 2008 after she discharged herself from King Edward Memorial Hospital earlier that month and was placed on a community treatment order. She had been made an involuntary patient in February but her involuntary status was later removed by the Mental Health Review Board despite hospital staff having found evidence of her suicide plan. A coronial inquest into her death was held earlier this year. In findings handed down today, acting State Coroner Evelyn Vicker found the woman, who was deeply resistant to conventional medication and hospitalisation, "well knew how to mask her real presentation with a facade of seeming to comply with treatment". Ms Vicker said the woman used a hearing before the MHRB "to convince the members she was quite rational and able to make appropriate choices for her wellbeing". Ms Vicker said: "She effectively convinced the MHRB she would be better off without the restrictions imposed by her involuntary status". … Continue reading →

THE WOODLANDS, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (OPXA), a biotechnology company developing Tcelna, a novel T-cell immunotherapy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), today announced that the Company has been featured in Neurology Reviews. The article, titled "Regulation May Be Impaired in Patients With Secondary Progressive MS, was written by Erik Greb, the publication's senior associate editor, and presents data from Opexas Immune Monitoring program that is part of its ongoing Phase IIb Abili-T trial in Secondary Progressive MS (SPMS). The article presents baseline data on Opexas Immune Monitoring Program that was previously presented at the 2013 Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) meeting. The immune monitoring data will be used to assess the impact of Tcelna in SPMS patients compared to patients receiving placebo. Opexas data supports the finding that immune regulation appears to be impaired in individuals with SPMS. Opexa characterized the status of patients with SPMS entering the Phase IIb trial at baseline and compared the data sets to those of healthy donors. The results showed a marked difference between key biomarkers of inflammation, specifically TR1 and Treg cells, in patients suffering from SPMS versus healthy donors. The results corroborated findings in … Continue reading →

TAORMINA, Italy, October 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- 18-19 October 2013 Up to 70% of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) suffer from cognitive impairment.[1] This condition frequently affects them even in the very early stages of the disease and has a negative influence on their quality of life and social functioning. Serono Symposia International Foundation (SSIF) has organized an international conference, 'Cognitive dysfunction in MS: New insights and clinical management' starting today in Taormina with the participation of leading international experts in the field of MS. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120501/529205 ) Cognitive impairment typically involves complex attention, information processing speed, (episodic) memory and executive functions, and often affects personal life and vocational status.[2]-[3] "This cognitive dysfunction associated with MS has a strong impact on the daily life of patients" - explains Professor Francesco Patti from the Department of Neurosciences, University of Catania, Italy. "Also, while the treatment of cognitive decline is still under discussion, controlled studies indicate that immunomodulatory therapies are associated with a modest cognitive improvement."[4] The aim of the SSIF conference is to review the state of the art in the field of cognition in MS and provide participants with new insight on significant aspects of cognitive dysfunction in MS patients, … Continue reading →

THE WOODLANDS, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (OPXA), a biotechnology company developing Tcelna, a novel T-cell immunotherapy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), today announced that Opexa will be highlighted in an upcoming broadcast of "The RedChip Money Report: Small Stocks Big Money," a nationally televised financial program. The broadcast will include an interview with Opexa's President and Chief Executive Officer, Neil K. Warma, and is scheduled to air on Thursday, October 17th at 10:00 p.m. PDT on the Fox Business Network. The interview will include a corporate update and financial highlights, as well as provide an overview of Opexa's ongoing Phase IIb clinical trial for Secondary Progressive MS, the Abili-T trial, being conducted in the United States and Canada. The "RedChip Money Report" segment from Fox Business will be made available on the investor relations page of Opexa's website. "The RedChip Money Report: Small Stocks Big Money" delivers insightful commentary on small-cap investing, interviews with Wall Street analysts, financial book reviews, as well as featured interviews with executives of public companies. The show is hosted by Dave Gentry, a leading authority on small-cap stocks and president of RedChip, an international small-cap research firm and an Inc. 5000 company. … Continue reading →

Oct. 14, 2013 For those with brain damage or neurological disorders -- such as MS or Parkinson's -- treatment could be as close as the wardrobe. Improved range of motion and reduced pain for people with brain injuries and neurological disorders may now be available with a specially-designed elastic body suit fitted with electrodes, which was designed at Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology in collaboration with health care and business partners. The Mollii garment provides an alternative to painful treatments and surgery, by treating the body with electrical stimulation to ease tension and spasms. The result is reduced pain perception and increased mobility. The idea originated with a Swedish chiropractor, Fredrik Lundqvist, who worked with rehabilitation of brain-damaged patients. Lundqvist struck upon the idea of sewing electrical stimuli -- similar to TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) electrodes -- into garments that the patient can wear. He turned to KTH researchers Johan Gawell and Jonas Wistrand at the Department of Machine Design at KTH. "They produced a prototype of the product, and today they are working full time on the development of Mollii," Lundqvist says. Designed with ordinary swimsuit material, the body suit has conductive elastic sewn into it, with … Continue reading →

Available treatment options for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) have expanded in recent years, and several injectable therapies are under development. In this Rapid Review, we summarise emerging injectable therapies for relapsing-remitting MS, and discuss pharmacological mechanisms, clinical trials, adverse events, and use in clinical practice. Many new potential treatments for MS are at an intermediate to advanced stage of development. Alemtuzumab is a monoclonal antibody that has shown efficacy in phase 3 trials but, because of serious adverse events associated with this drug, clinical monitoring is essential. Pegylated interferon beta-1a has shown efficacy in a phase 3 trial. Daclizumab and ocrelizumab are monoclonal antibodies that have shown efficacy and acceptable safety profiles in phase 2 trials; both are under investigation in ongoing phase 3 trials. Ofatumumab is a monoclonal antibody that has shown efficacy in a small phase 2 trial. Animal models suggest that anti-LINGO1 antibody has remyelinating potential, and phase 2 trials of the antibody are underway. Further clarification of purported mechanisms of action and continued surveillance will be essential to establish the safety and clinical efficacy of these drugs in patients with relapsing-remitting MS. Read more: Emerging injectable therapies for multiple sclerosis … Continue reading →

The Saskatchewan Party government still hopes to enrol multiple sclerosis patients in a liberation therapy trial, despite new research casting doubt on the treatment's underlying theory. Health Minister Dustin Duncan said Wednesday that a new Saskatoon-and B.C.-based study merely "adds to the information" government has about the link between MS and a condition called chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency. "Our position is still the same as it was when we announced that the Albany trial was ending, is that we are going to be looking for what the next avenue of research that Saskatchewan can be involved in. ... It may be CCSVI and the liberation therapy. It may not be. And frankly, I think we have to be realistic that it's becoming more difficult to find the type of double-blind clinical trial that we were involved with in Albany," Duncan told reporters in Regina. Saskatoon MS clinic director and University of Saskatchewan professor Dr. Katherine Knox was one of the investigators on the B.C. and Saskatchewan study. In total, 177 people were enrolled - about 70 of them from Saskatchewan. It included people with MS, their siblings, and people who have no direct family members with the disease. Researchers used … Continue reading →

LYN After 12 years battling symptoms of multiple sclerosis, Lyn's Kathy Francis says the shackles have come off. Francis says since a $7,000 vascular treatment to unplug neck veins she received in Philadelphia one year ago a procedure known as CCSVI that is unavailable in Canada she has had a new lease on life. It's freedom, said the 60-year-old mother of two and grandmother of two. When you get an improvement in the quality of your life, no matter how small or big, it's freedom. In her case, Francis has experienced improvements she says are life-changing. Gone is the brain-fog, chronic fatigue, headaches and unsteady balance of the past dozen years. In its place, she has resumed driving, following a regular exercise routine and rolling on the floor with her grandchildren. Francis said a change in her energy level, strength and dexterity was almost immediate after receiving the procedure in September 2012. I woke up in the hospital and I thought, Oh my God, I've got warm fingers and warm toes. They've been cold for 12 years. And my skin was pink. Not white or gray like it had been. Just days after returning home from hospital, Francis found she … Continue reading →